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Chamaita sundanympha sp. n.
Chamaita sundanympha 
(x 1.63)
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7mm,
7-8mm. The general appearance is as in the generic description, males having one
radial sector vein anterior to the bifurcate system and females having two.
There is a strong fold within the forewing cell that encloses hair-scales, as
illustrated by Hampson (1900) and attributed to trichopteroides erroneously (see
Chamaita trichopteroides Walker). The figure may be that of a
male of nympha Moore (Sri Lanka) which
also has this character. The holotype of nympha is labelled as male but is in fact female (slide 5442), hence
the venation illustrated by Hampson (1900) for male nympha lacks a fold in the cell and has two veins anterior to the
radial sector bifurcation; this is at odds with Hampson’s diagnosis of his
second section. The fold is lacking in neuropteroides
and only weakly expressed in a narrow cell in nudarioides, taxa removed from synonymy with trichopteroides (see Chamaita
trichopteroides Walker).
The
markings of the forewing in sundanympha are
more distinct than in trichopteroides, resembling
those of nympha; the postmedial is
irregularly angled, its dots somewhat contiguous. There is a broader but diffuse
patch between the cell and the anal vein. In the male genitalia the general
structure is as in nympha (slide
5131), but the flexed aedeagus is narrower and the costal process of the valve
is distinctly extended, curved, blade-like (shorter in a specimen from Java;
slide 5439); this process is much larger, more slender, sickle-like and
bilaterally asymmetrical in more easterly species with a strong cell-fold such
as fascioterminata Rothschild (New
Guinea). The female genitalia resemble those of nympha in having longitudinal but irregular bands of spines in the
rather large, apically reflexed bursa.
Holotype
.SABAH: Poring, 1800 ft., E. of Mt.
Kinabalu, 20-23.i. 1976 (E.
W. Classey), BM arctiid slide 5178.
Paratypes:1 (slide 5261)
as holotype; 1 (slide 5123) MALAYSIA:
Sabah, Danum Valley, 170m, 4º58’N,
117º48’E (S.J. Willott), 1º
understorey, ER, East Ridge, DVFC, 22.vii.94; 1 (slide 5262) SARAWAK: Gunong Mulu Nat. Park, R.G.S. Exped. 1977-8 (J.D. Holloway
et al.), Site 28, May, Nr. Long Pala, FEG 1a, 328428, 50m., alluvial forest;
1 BRUNEI: 300m, Ulu
Temburong, rainforest, (H.S.
B[arlow]), Oct. 1978.
Geographical
range. Borneo,
Java.
Habitat
preference. The
species is rare in lowland forest to as high as 600m.
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